Refractions
by amado15
Summary: (Continues after the Rebellion movie)No matter how one would attempt to keep things the same as they used to be, the bending of a "law" would inevitable cause changes in the direction of their world, and that in turn would refract back to the their very lives, in ways that she never expected.
1. Chapter 1

so I decided to make another fanfic, since this has been nagging me for a lot.

this fic is my continuation of the ending of the movie rebellion. what ive felt, is that most of the fics here arent really dealing with the changes done, and the feelings the characters are having, properly.

im still continuing my other fic so dont worry about that one.

and of course the usual disclaimer: I dont own the series madoka magica.

* * *

"I finally found you... really, how long are you going to keep worrying your friends?"

"Ah, sorry to bother you about that..."

"...what's wrong? You're not acting like yourself."

The red haired girl, who was munching on some snacks, looked up at the blue girl sitting opposite to herself with a mixture of surprise and shock.

_Well that is to be expected... just a few days ago I would have just vehemently rejected any show of her concern._

The two of them were currently inside the train station, sitting on one of the waiting benches that people sat while waiting for the next train to arrive. It was way past midnight already, meaning that the whole station was deserted, leaving the two well alone to freely talk about whatever they wanted to.

But was there there something they even wanted to talk about?

"...I just don't care anymore," the blue haired admitted in a bitter tone. "What do I even care about anymore? Who do I want to protect? I don't even know anymore..."

"Hey..." the red haired girl started to say something but stopped as the other girl opened her palm to reveal an egg-shaped dark blue gem.

"The balance of hope and despair is always zero, as you said so yourself," the girl said with a depressing smile on her face. "I understand what you meant now."

_That's right, this world worked on a shitty rule._

"I've saved plenty of people, but in exchange, resentment and pain took root in my heart," she continued. "I'm even hurting my dearest friend now."

"Sayaka! Are you-" the red haired once again tried to say something but was cut off as the blue haired, Sayaka, continued on with her monologue.

"As much as I wished for the happiness of one, someone else must be equally cursed," Sayaka said as she raised her eyes upward. "That's how the story of a magical girl goes..."

Tears started forming on her eyes as she glanced turned towards the red haired girl, who could only gape at her. A heavy and dark feeling spread within Sayaka as she uttered her last words.

"I've been such a fool."

A strong gust of wind suddenly burst from the girl inside the station, pushing the red haired several feet away. Fortunately she managed to grab hold the rails, preventing her from being thrown into the tunnels or smacking a wall.

Meanwhile, Sayaka's body had slumped and collapsed on the floor, like a marionette with its string cut. Dark electricity seemed to spark around her as space twisted. The gem on her hand had also cracked, then started to change its form into something much darker and malevolent.

"Sayaka!" the red haired girl shouted her name as she clung tightly to the rails.

_Is this type of world even worth fighting for?_

* * *

"Sayaka!"

"!"

Sayaka gasped in shock as she sat up on her bed. The room was in pitch darkness, signifying it was still night time, but she could still make out the face of a familiar red haired girl looking down at her with a concerned expression.

"...Kyouko?"

"Thank god you woke up," the girl, Kyouko, let out a sigh of relief before affixing her eyes back on Sayaka. "You were bumping on the bed a lot and I could hear groans and whimpers, so I looked down and saw you were having a nightmare. I tried to shake you up earlier but it didn't seem to work until I started calling your name..."

"Ah so that's what happened..." Sayaka replied after a while. "Well, thanks for waking me up," she said with a small smile.

"O-of course, idiot," Kyouko muttered as she turned away from her. "Someone has to look after you."

"Haha, well, I'm fine now," Sayaka chuckled a bit at the girl's reaction. Kyouko was still not quite used to displaying her concerns openly, or having them returned back to her for that matter.

"A-are you really fine?" she asked. Instead of turning around though, Kyouko just turned her head to the side, likely still feeling embarrassed. "What were you dreaming about anyway?"

"Ah, I forgot all about it just now," Sayaka answered with a silly grin. "And I just said I was fine... though I feel like not sleeping yet, so I'll just be going to the kitchen to get some snacks."

"Oh, well, it's natural to not want to sleep again after a nightmare I suppose," Kyouko nodded slightly at her words. "Just be careful out there... and bring me some too."Kyouko requested so with grin before climbing back up the ladder to her bed.

"It's always the food that gets your attention," Sayaka sighed before standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll see what I can find."

As she closed the door behind her, Sayaka waited to hear the familiar snores from Kyouko as she slept again before moving on. After a few steps though, she let out a groan before leaning her back on the hallway.

_A nightmare huh... more like, a memory._

It has nearly been an entire month since that incident, the one where the world had been changed. She had confronted the girl about it, which led to nothing except having her powers and memories stripped away. Not all of it was gone though, she still remembered the fact that the girl was a "demon".

And over the course of time, the rest of her memories started coming back to her. Not consistently though, it was on random times she'd start getting them, whether she was awake or not. This has led to her occasionally looking weird and strange towards other people before she adjusted her character back to "normal. Not chronological either, sometimes she'd be hit by a memory from her early childhood days, then some days it was from something very recent.

As of now, she was currently inside her house with Kyouko sharing her room. Apparently, the story was that her family found Kyouko living around near an abandoned church. Being good persons indeed, they had adopted Kyouko into their family which led to her having a bunker bed for them to share the room. Before, it felt very natural and she never questioned it, but now...

"Well, I probably wouldn't have left Kyouko alone either way."

But it was still a bit disconcerting for things to have gone this way, if she thought logically. Her parents probably would have given Kyouko to an orphanage or something, as opposed to just letting her live with them right away. With some of her recovered memories, Sayaka could actually recall that their finances weren't that well enough to support another person under their roofs, let alone for her education. If they did have that much money before, she'd have already bought dozens of music CDs from the music department store instead of just listening to them with her best-

"...friend huh," Sayaka mused before she pushed herself off from the wall and started trudging down to the kitchen. "That girl... was my best friend in the past?

She had only recent gotten the memory of that one. The girl in question was a pink haired girl known as Madoka Kaname who had just recently transferred into their class. Madoka was actually prevalent in her memories, just that she didn't know they were best friends til recently. In actual reality, Sayaka had befriended the girl as she felt rather lost due to just returned from abroad. Sayaka didn't really know what compelled her do it back then, she just couldn't help but feel like wanting to protect that girl. Madoka was rather grateful for her help while Kyouko praised her for helping the girl, though she also noted how Sayaka did a lot more for this girl compared to others (barring Kyouko herself of course). Now she knew why...

"...what did you do, Akemi Homura?" Sayaka asked to no one as she sat down on one of the chairs.

Homura Akemi, also known as the "demon" to Sayaka. She was also a student in their class though barely talked to others and kept to herself. She exuded an aura that made other people feel hesitant to approach her, yet she was also admired for her composure and general skill in all subjects. She was also pretty helpful when people asked her for help regarding something, if they had the courage to talk to her that is. Homura was like the perfect student, the ace of their class and perhaps the whole school. It came to no surprise that a lot of people liked her... except for Sayaka that is.

She didn't have any inkling on what, or even if she did have any connection to it, but she felt like Homura had something to do with her loss of memories. There was also something about her, that made Sayaka feel uneasy, like there was something horribly wrong or off about everything.

_I wonder what that girl is doing right now..._

* * *

so what'd you guys think of this so far?

id appreciate some reviews in order for me to know if im doing it well and if I need some improvement on some parts. you could also give me some ideas for future chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

ah im kinda bummed that no reviews have come yet, though I am thankful and glad that some have already favorite and followed this story of mine.

it would be helpful to me if you gave your insights about the story though.

also the character perspective will switch a lot, expect the other characters to have their own time to shine and thoughts to be viewed.

* * *

"Hmm?"

A soft murmur came from the mouth of a dark haired girl as she tilted her head ever so slightly with a frown.

"Ah... just a false alarm," she muttered to herself as she loosened her expression.

Somewhere along the borders of Mitakihara, there was a lone cliff overlooking the city. What was strange about it though, was the fact that its edge was very smooth, as if it was cut straightly down in half with the other half gone. The area around to it was illuminated by blue lampposts, with a path leading straight towards a lone chair that the girl was sitting at, like it was a throne.

You'd think it'd make a good tourist spot, yet hardly anyone ever wandered there, with the exception being the lone girl who was looking at the city with a somewhat bored expression on her face.

"Miki Sayaka again huh," she mumbled to herself as she turned her face slightly towards said girl's house. "That dream right now..."

For some strange reason or another, Sayaka was regaining some of her old memories. Memories of a forgotten and lost world, something that no one except her should be aware of. Except for that pinked haired girl, which she made sure of, only Sayaka was recovering her memories, everyone else didn't really do anything unusual or caused any changes.

At first, they were just little bits of memories that were more or less useless, like one of them being the first time Sayaka had visited the dentist, so she had not really paid it much attention. Gradually though, they were starting to get a bit more "specific" or personal, such as the girl's relationship with Madoka, which clearly didn't exist in this world. And right now, that girl was starting to remember things that weren't meant to be known...

_Should I just erase her existence?_

That was something she had thought and been considering for quite a long time, way before things had come to this. The main reason she didn't was mostly for the other girls, notably for Madoka's sake as well as for Kyouko's benefit. She did also feel a bit of pity for the girl, admittedly, even though neither of them had been quite as friendly to each other except for some of the more rare timelines.

Now, as Sayaka's memories were getting more dangerously close to the truth, something drastic may be needed to be done soon...

"!"

There was a surge of emotions in one of the areas of the city, causing her to shift her attention away from the blue haired girl. Despair and anger, that was the feeling being exuded from one of the city's sectors. The dark haired focused on its direction, enhancing her eyesight to gain vision on it, though she already knew what she'd see. Confirmation came when the sight of large bulky and white individuals came clear to her.

Wraiths.

They were the manifestation of the darker emotions that came from humans. These emotions would gather and compress in an area, slowly building up en mass until it manifested as a white monster known as wraiths. The ones right now were as large as a building with a blank face that showed no emotion.

It was at this moment when she heard someone's voice resonate inside her head.

'Homura-san, I'm currently sensing the presence of of some wraiths in the city.'

'That's right, I just spotted them being near the shopping district, Mami-san.'

Homura replied back coolly to the girl apparently known as Mami. Telepathy was

'Oh so you're already there?' Mami said with a slight surprise in her tone. 'Kyouko isn't responding, so I'm guessing she's asleep right now. I'm just getting ready so-'

'There is no need, Mami-san,' Homura interrupted her. 'I can handle this on my own, and I can tell that you were sleeping just a few minutes ago, so you wouldn't be able to fight properly right now.'

Silence reigned in the conversation for a while before Mami started talking back again, albeit with a more heavier and sleepy tone.

'How'd you know I was just sleeping?' Mami asked with a small yawn that she failed to hide. 'Maybe I was just studying late at night...'

'You are a diligent person indeed, Mami-san,' Homura admitted. 'But you also value safety and proper care, so you wouldn't be staying up past midnight just to keep up a good grade.'

_It's not like you really care about your grades at all anyway._

'...but what about you then, Homura-san?' Mami reflected back the analysis on her. 'You're not exactly that energetic, and I've even heard from Kyouko that you sometimes doze off in class, perhaps you need the sleep more than I do.'

'Doesn't that just mean that I'm more active at night, hence I wouldn't be sleep like you,' Homura answered with a slight smirk on her face. 'Besides, all of my grades are top notch, so I'm in no danger of failing just from some naps.'

'Really, Mami-san, I can handle these things myself,' Homura reassured the older girl. 'You just rest yourself for tomorrow, like what Kyouko is doing right now.'

'That just means I should be there to back you up since Kyouko isn't there,' Mami said, still not backing down. 'You can never be too careful.'

_Good grief, she really is quite concerned about safety._

There seemed to be no changing her mind though, unless Homura would start manipulating her thoughts, which she didn't really like to do. From her own vision, Mami was already dressed up and ready to go, so Homura relented in letting her join in.

_Well, I can just eliminate them right now before she arrives her, so that she wouldn't have to exhaust herself so much, though she'll definitely be angry with having nothing to do._

Homura made a light chuckle at imagining Mami's reaction as she started to leap towards the wraiths' location.

* * *

"...couldn't you have at least let me kill one or two of them?"

"Sorry, I was in a rush since I need to do my homework soon."

Homura sat on top of the shopping district looking smug at Mami, who looked back at her irritably.

Mami opened her mouth as if to say something, only to close it again and turned away from the dark haired girl.

"Okay fine, I'll be going back to get some sleep," she muttered before turning her head sideways to glance at Homura. "Just don't you stay up too late," Mami added before she started leaping over buildings and heading back towards her apartment.

"Sure sure," Homura replied though Mami was already too far to hear her.

As she started to stand up and leave, Homura paused for a moment to admire the city. Her city.

It was the dead of night, but there were still a lot of areas that had their lights on, with little to no places that were pitch black. You could basically still see the whole of Mitakihara city, albeit tinted with the darkness of night time. It was beautiful to look at, to say the least.

As Homura continued to observe the city, she was reminded of a certain past incident around a month ago...

* * *

"Why don't you simply enjoy the happiness from getting another chance to live a human life? Someday, you'll forget all that happened in the past, and this place will seem perfectly natural to you."

Homura had calmly uttered those words of reassurance to the perfectly still Sayaka. The girl didn't immediately reply to her, but that was just fine. There would be no problems.

Just moments earlier, Homura had completely altered and changed the very universe they were in. After learning from Kyuubey the actions she had committed as well as pushing her soul gem to the limit, Homura had acquired power that was strong enough to contest a god. Or a goddess in this scenario.

She had found a way to tear the goddess away from her post, giving the pink haired girl back the life she deserved to have. Once that girl's safety was assured, Homura had went to work in ensuring that she would never come in danger again, by taking control of not only the enemies that were after the girl but also everything else that would affect the girl, including the people around them.

Homura wasn't cruel though, and she wasn't stupid either. She hadn't done anything malicious to the girls, only altering some of their circumstances as well as changing their memories, nothing too drastic or sinister. Heck, she had also given the girls a slightly better life than their original one. Nothing too different though lest she change the girl's original character, as well as to prevent that girl from noticing.

As such, Homura was completely caught by surprise when Sayaka, the girl who she thought that would be the most grateful for it, gave her one of the most hateful glare she had ever seen, shocking her so much that her smile froze.

"Even if that happens, the one thing I'll never forget," Sayaka started to say as her body shook slightly from the apparent effort, as her own memories were gradually disappearing, "is that you, Akemi Homura, are a demon!"

* * *

"...Tch."

Homura shook her head, pushing away the memory of that event from her mind.

_That girl... she just doesn't appreciate what I've done._

It was truly a surprise to Homura for Sayaka to strongly go against her actions, when the girl had seemed eager enough back in her internal barrier. The girl had said back then that this kind of world wasn't so bad to live in, yet she seemed very angry with what Homura just did right now.

It baffled her, made her wonder if she made some mistake somewhere. But after a few days, Homura just dismissed it as Sayaka being hard headed like usual, or that the girl just disliked her.

_...it doesn't matter anyway, so long as Madoka is happy then it's all just fine._

* * *

and that's 2nd chapter, with homura getting her side shown.

reviews would be appreciated, maybe give me some of your own ideas and thoughts on the story for future content.


	3. Chapter 3

well just to help clear up some things, in case some of you guys havent already guessed from reading, here's a bit of background and setting information regarding the circumstances right now:

**sayaka and madoka are not childhood friends in homura's world.**

the reason I came to this, is due to the fact that sayaka didn't seem to have any reaction to madoka's introduction in class, same story for madoka who didnt even approach or seemed to recognize sayaka.

**kyouko was taken in by the miki family... for reasons only homura could answer.**

honestly there's no real good reason for them to take in kyouko... other than just homura wanting it being the case in her witch barrier. therefore, im assuming she's done the same thing right here after she remade the world. oh and this would also explain how kyouko is able to attend their school, so I couldnt just return her back to being a hobo- I mean homeless person, or put her up in mami's house.

**homura, mami and kyouko are magical girls while sayaka, nagisa and madoka are not.**

homura trusts mami and kyouko, therefore she lets them stay as magical girls. reason for this can be traced to the 5th timeline as well as some hints from the 3rd movie itself. for one thing, homura has been working alongside with the other two for quite some time after madoka and sayaka ascended. also, while she was accelerating her witch transformation, she had said to kyuubey that she trusts kyouko and mami to kill her... leaving out madoka, sayaka and bebe(nagisa).

the other three are of course not magical girls for obvious reasons, mainly cause there's the danger of their memories of being awakened if they try to explore their capabilities like sayaka somehow manages to bring out oktavia. then there's individual reasons of course, with homura wanting madoka to be safe, while she doesnt really know nagisa and of course her relationship with sayaka isnt really good, to say the least.

any other questions and wonders you may have about the setting, such as nagisa's situation, you'll have to wait for them to be revealed, or can just ask me via reviews and il answer them if its not too spoilery.

also if you think there's something odd or out of place in the fic, please let me know. I'll try to

ok now, here's the chapter:

* * *

"Sayaka, get up already! Do you want to be late for school or what?"

A loud voice resonated inside the room, jolting the girl called Sayaka from her sleep.

"Ugh... what?" Sayaka groaned as she rubbed her eyes, feeling a bit disoriented.

"Like I said, do you want to be late for school or what?"

_Wait what? Late for school?_

As her vision was gradually getting clearer, Sayaka turned her eyes towards the source of the loud voice, which turned out to be none other than the loudmouth redhead Kyouko. She was right beside her bed, staring down at Sayaka with a look that was close to irritation.

"Really, you idiot," Kyouko sighed before jabbing her thumb at the wall behind her. "It's almost 7:00 and you're still not ready."

"S-seven thirty?" Sayaka repeated in disbelief, before she looked over Kyouko to the clock at the top of their bedroom door. The number on it currently read as 6:41.

"Oh crap, It's that late already?" Sayaka swore as she quickly jumped out of bed, nearly crashing into Kyouko who moved aside just on time. She quickly grabbed her towel and her uniform from the closet before dashing towards the bathroom in a hurry.

* * *

"Good morning, Kyouko-chan, Sayaka-chan... are you two alright?"

A pink haired stood there by the school gate, tilting her head slightly at the odd sight of Kyouko and Sayaka panting as they approached her. She looked at them with puzzled expression on her face, which the two just dismissed as they shook their heads with Sayaka mouthing 'later' and Kyouko pointing urgently towards the school.

The girl nodded slightly, understanding the message they were saying, and she started walking with them as the trio headed towards the school, side by side like they usually did. Several seconds passed in silence as she glanced anxiously at the two girls, watching the two of them try recover their normal breathing.

"Hah ah... good morning to you as well, Madoka," Kyouko was the first to say something, starting off with properly greetings to the other girl. She then pulled out a Pocky from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth.

"...yes, good morning too," Sayaka followed after Kyouko's example, looking somewhat more out of breath. She glanced briefly at Kyouko before turning to look away.

_Haaah, I sometimes wish my place was closer to the school like Madoka's is, so that I could leisurely walk instead of having to take a bus that might not be available..._

"...so um, what happened to you guys?" Madoka repeated her question to them. "It's like you two were running all the way here..." she trailed off as she noticed Kyouko looking a bit annoyed while Sayaka wearing a sheepish expression on her face.

"...did you guys wake up late, by any chance?" Madoka asked innocently, hitting dead on the mark.

Their reactions were immediate, with Kyouko snapping the Pocky in her mouth in two and Sayaka raising her arms apologetically. The three of them stopped as Kyouko turned to face Sayaka, who in turn looked back reluctantly.

"It's cause this idiot over here," Kyouko gestured to Sayaka, "had overslept, because she thought it was a good idea to stay up late at night," she finished with a flick to Sayaka's forehead.

"Ow,hey, you already knew that I had a," Sayaka glanced at Madoka briefly before relenting, "a nightmare, right?" she said, ignoring Madoka's worried expression. "I couldn't just go back to sleep you know..."

"Sure you can," Kyouko replied, inciting a dubious expression from Sayaka and a confused glance from Madoka. "I had my share of nightmares, and it only took me a few minutes to go back to sleep, not over an hour like a certain idiot I know," she said with a pointed glance at Sayaka, in case the message wasn't understood.

_Hey hey, you're going a bit too far there._

"You oversleep more than I do, you know," Sayaka pointed, making Kyouko wince. "Hell, most of the time, I have to wake you up so that you don't get late like you used to in the past."

"N-now now you two," Madoka stepped in between them, sensing that their fight right now was more heated than their usual. "T-these things happen once in a while a-and there are just some types of nightmares that people can't just shake off like you can, Kyouko-chan," she said while glancing at the two of them.

"P-please don't fight so early in the morning," Madoka pleaded as she gave the two one of her best pleading look, causing Kyouko to glance away awkwardly while Sayaka just exhaled with a sigh.

"...sorry," Kyouko mumbled her apology as she pulled out another Pockey from her pocket, glancing back at Sayaka. "It's just that I don't want to get in trouble with Saotome-sensei again you know. She'll blame my grades on me staying up late watching Anime or something like she did weeks ago..."

"Ah that was one of the few times I've heard her talk about something not related about her love life," Sayaka chuckled for a bit before sighing. "Well, I already apologized, but I'll just apologize again, since it was my fault in the first place," she said with a slight smile towards Kyouko. "So, forgive me okay, Kyouko-sama."

"A-as long as you understand, then it's fine," Kyouko replied with a flustered expression. "Just don't do it again.., and don't call me that!" she cried out as Sayaka laughed at her.

"Well, I'm glad you guys have put that behid you," Madoka smiled at seeing her friends make up. "Though we really should start moving otherwise we will really be late."

"What!" Kyouko shouted as she glanced around the area, noticing that besides the three of them, no one else was around. "Oh crap!" she swore before dashing towards the building, leaving behind her two friends.

Sayaka just stared back at her, not quite having the energy to start running again while Madoka looked somewhat pleased with herself despite being late as well.

_Oh well, at least she can't really blame it entirely on me for being late..._

"Ah, this is the first time I'm late for class this year," Madoka said after a few seconds with a slight giggle. "Well, lets get going, Sayaka-chan," she started moving again, with Sayaka following after her reluctantly.

"Well, technically it's also my first time this year," Sayaka muttered. "So you're not the only one... though I have been late several times in the past, courtesy of Kyouko of course."

After that short exchange, their walk had gone silent, with no other student yelling or running in the background around them. It felt rather peaceful and nice to Sayaka, being alone with her apparent childhood friend Madoka and not having to listen to her loudmouth roommate Kyouko's for once. It almost made up for being late. Almost.

Eventually, all good things came to an end as the two of them approached the doors, already hearing the sounds of some students still shuffling around the corridors. Just before they reached the door though, Madoka turned around to face her and Sayaka recognized the look of concern in the girl's eyes.

"Sayaka-chan, what kind of nightmare did you have?" Madoka asked, looking slightly worried.

_Damn, I was hoping that she'd forget about that one._

"Uh my dream?" Sayaka replied, trying to sound confused. "Oh that nightmare from earlier... I-I don't really remember it very clearly... actually, I think I forgot all about it," she said with an embarrassed chuckle, hoping to put Madoka's worries at ease.

Instead of working, it seemed to have made the pink haired girl even more worried, with her brows seemed to furrow and her mouth to tightened.

"Sayaka-chan..." Madoka started to say. "You wouldn't be acting like this if it was just some regular nightmare. If it was, you would start telling everyone about it while making up some parts of it," she finished with a slight chuckle as Sayaka looked away, embarrassingly.

"H-how are you so sure that I act like that?" Sayaka blurted before she could stop herself.

_Oh crap, I didn't mean to sound so rude to her._

Instead of feeling offended by her response though, Madoka blinked before her face wore a thoughtful expression.

"...huh, you're right," Madoka said after a few seconds, stunning Sayaka with her reply. "Somehow I just... feel like I know what you would be doing," she said hesitantly. "Even though I don't really know Sayaka-chan that well..."

_Huh?_

Madoka's reaction would normally seem confusing to any onlookers, if any were around that is, until you realized that the two girls had only become friends nearly a month ago, four weeks to be exact. Not enough time to be sure of how someone else would react in a specific situation.

Silenced reigned in again on the two girls as they each went deep in thought about the exchange of words that had just happened, though on different points. While Madoka was busy on wondering why she had said those kinds of words, Sayaka was thinking more on its correlation to her dreams.

_Does this mean that I should tell Madoka all about my dreams? Has she had those dreams just like me?_

Sayaka stole a glance towards Madoka, seeing that she was still caught up in her own thoughts.

Sayaka had not told her dreams to anyone, not her friends nor her own family, as the chances of them believing in it were very unlikely. There was also the fact that Kyouko would have made fun of her on believing in it while Madoka would unnecessarily worry about her. So, she had intended to keep it all to herself until she had a better grasp on what it truly meant at least.

_But if Madoka is also experiencing it..._

"Madoka," Sayaka said after a while. "There's something I-"

Sayaka cut herself off, suddenly feeling an oppressive presence. She slowly moved her eyes away from Madoka to glance at the hallway, immediately spotting a familiar raven haired girl just behind the corner. Sayaka couldn't clearly see who it was, but she could feel like it was _that_ person.

The girl was still several feet away from them way out of hearing distance, yet Sayaka got the feeling that she shouldn't be talking about these dreams with her in the vicinity.

"There's something you...?" Madoka asked as noticed her pause. "Is there something wrong, Sayaka-chan?"

"A-ah, it seems like Homura-san is already calling for us to get in," Sayaka stammered.

As if on cue, Homura stepped around the corner and started walking towards them. The expression on the girl's face was as impassive as ever, yet her eyes seemed to be staring sharply ahead at something, and Sayaka could haphazardly guess what that something was...

Madoka didn't seem to notice it though, as she reacted just like how she usually does when meeting Homura, looking rather awkward and unsure of how to deal with the other girl.

_Well it's no secret that Madoka rarely is aware of how other people see her._

"H-homura-chan?" Madoka stuttered a bit before recollecting herself. "Ah, Homura-chan, is there something you wanted to talk about?" she asked the raven haired girl.

"Madoka," Homura said with a small pause, before reluctantly glancing at blue haired girl. "And Sayaka..." she trailed off, making both Sayaka and Madoka apprehensive, though for different reasons.

_Does she-_

"...you guys do know that its already 10 minutes past homeroom, right?" Homura continued, smirking slightly at their reaction. "Saotome-sensei has already done lecturing Sakura-san about being late, now she's just waiting for you two."

"Ahah, well, ours can't be worse than Kyouko-chan's at least," Madoka said with a forced smile, trying to be optimistic with the situation as usual. "We better not keep her waiting then."

"I hope it's not going to be a rant about having a boyfriend at our age again," Sayaka muttered with a sigh. "Yeah, we better get going now."

Once again, Madoka started walking towards their classroom, though with considerably less enthusiasm than earlier. Sayaka also tried to follow after her, but stopped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. Sayaka turned her head towards the source, coming face to face with Homura who was staring at her intently.

"W-what is it?" Sayaka asked nervously, not liking how Homura was focus on her.

Homura just kept staring at her though, as if she hadn't heard Sayaka. As the girl kept staring at her, Sayaka noticed that Homura's expression changed from her usual blank stoic expression to something close to a frown.

_T-that doesn't seem like a good thing... ah, what should I do!?_

"We really should get going so..." Sayaka thought of something to say. "...so that Madoka wont have to face Saotome-sensei's lecture by herself."

She gestured her hand towards the retreating figure of Madoka, hoping it would make Homura let her go.

Homura turned her head to the direction where Madoka, who seemed to had also just notice that her two companions weren't following her, was. Madoka turned around and was starting to backtrack towards them.

"...yes, we really should get going," Homura replied without turning back to face Sayaka.

I'm saved.

Was what Sayaka thought, that is, until Homura turned around back to face her.

"I would like to have a chat with you sometime, Sayaka Miki," Homura said, addressing Sayaka by her full name. Then she smiled, before moving towards Madoka who was getting back to them.

As the Homura explained to Madoka their reasons for staying behind, Sayaka could only stare numbly at the raven haired girl.

_I'm screwed._

* * *

well that was a rather lengthy chapter, I think my second longest one(though probably due to the explanation text above), with the longest being in my other fanfic.

but anyways, expect the other girls to have their PoV looked into.

as always, read and review please ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

so heres the 4th chapter, though some of you guys might have seen the draft of this somewhere else...

also, thanks to Fanatical-Writer561 for being my beta reader for this.

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"Oh, good afternoon, Kyouko... why are you still eating your lunch at this time?"

"...it's 'cause I got held up by my English teacher right after she dismissed the class."

Kyouko made a face as she grumbled her irritation to a blond school girl who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from her. The two of them were currently outside of the school cafeteria, sitting down on one of the tables that were under the shade from the nearby trees. Kyouko was eating beef curry while the other girl was just sipping some tea.

"Hmm, so why were you being held up by the teacher?" the blonde asked her. "Did you cause some trouble again?"

"Hey, I didn't cause any trouble this time!" Kyouko shook her head. "Really, Mami, I learned my lessons too, ya know," she said with a sigh.

"Oh, sorry for that one," Mami apologized before smiling slightly. "It's just that, you know, you used to rarely follow the rules back then. A lot of times you barely even listened to what I advised you to do..."

"H-Hey, I did listen to you a few times in the past!" Kyouko replied, blushing a bit. "And besides, that's all in the past. I'm a stickler for rules now."

"Oh, I wonder about that..." Mami said in a mischievous tone. "From what I've heard, you still occasionally eat during class and there were those absences on some of your classes."

"I can't help it if I get so hungry," Kyouko defended herself. "And that last one, I only do that when there's a coupla wraiths in the city, ya know."

"Indeed you certainly do," Mami said with a giggle. "Sorry, I just felt like teasing you a bit."

"Geeze, Mami." Kyouko replied with a slight huff before leaning back into her chair.

The two of them stopped talking for a while as Kyouko went back to eating while Mami was sipping her tea. The two girls remained silent, just basking in the gentle flow of the breeze. Only a few students were outside, most either having finished their lunch already or preferring the conveniences of the school, so Kyouko and Mami were able to enjoy some peace and quiet.

_Hmm, so this is why Mami likes it out here._

"...Sometimes, it really feels nice to just kick back and relax." Kyouko said with a yawn as she pushed away her empty plate. "I can see why you like eating out here instead of being inside with all the other students."

"Of course, though it also has something to do with the tea being easier to make outside," Mami said with a small nod before glancing back at Kyouko. "Sometimes, you just want to be by yourself... which I'm guessing is your reason to be here as well?"

"Ugh, I really can't seem to hide anything from you..." Kyouko sighed. "How did you know, anyway?"

"Well, you aren't with your two friends, Miki-san and Kaname-san, for instance," Mami answered.

"But that could be because I was, I dunno, dismissed later than them," Kyouko pointed out.

"Ah, but even I know that you girls tend to hang out on the roof top during lunch," Mami replied with a knowing smile. "And I'm assuming your friends aren't the type to leave that anytime soon without waiting for you."

There was a momentary pause as Kyouko looked down.

_I guess I should to talk to someone about it, and Mami is the only one I can talk with this sort of thing..._

"...Well, we sorta got into an argument," Kyouko muttered. "I sort of, got a bit too angry there and now I don't think it's fine for me to just go back to them you know..."

"...And why were you guy arguing?" Mami asked after Kyouko went silent again. "Does it have something to do with you getting in trouble?"

"...yes," Kyouko answered reluctantly.

Kyouko started to narrate the events that transpired earlier, starting from how Sayaka had woken up late, them having to run all the way, leading to the argument after they reached the school and how they ended up being late anyway. Mami silently sipped her tea during Kyouko's recounting, waiting for her to finish up.

After Kyouko finished, fidgetting slightly, Mami set her teacup down and gave an exasperated sigh.

"...you already know you were in the wrong there, right?" Mami asked her to be sure, then continued after Kyouko nodded. "While Miki-san was responsible mostly for being late, and thus you had the right to be annoyed, you were a bit too harsh on her there. You have to take the time to think about what you're saying sometimes, Kyouko."

"Yeah, I realized that a bit too late..." Kyouko hung her head to the side at Mami's lecture. "It's just that... I'm sort of a bit worried about Sayaka."

Mami, who had opened her mouth to say something, blinked in surprise instead and looked at Kyouko strangely. Kyouko didn't notice Mami's stare as she was still looking at the ground.

"Worried...?" Mami repeated before leaning slightly forward with a concerned expression. "Why? Is there something going on with that girl?"

"I'm not actually that sure..." Kyouko said hesitantly. "It sort of feels like Sayaka is not quite as cheerful or carefree as she used to be. She's also a bit gloomy or looks troubled sometimes."

"Really?" Mami asked with a frown. "From what I have seen and heard, Miki-san seems to be quite an energetic and happy person."

"Well, it only happens a few times and Sayaka snaps out of it quick enough that others barely notice anything is off," Kyouko explained. "But when she thinks no one is paying attention to her... I don't see her smiling so cheerfully," she said dejectedly.

"Hmm... if you say so," Mami nodded slowly before smiling slightly at Kyouko. "You must have really been looking at her a lot to be able to notice something like that," she teased the red head.

"I w-wasn't really paying that much attention to her," Kyouko sputtered. "It was just by c-chance that I caught those little moments!"

"I'm sure you did," Mami said, still smiling. "Watching over her, I mean."

"L-like I said, i-it's not like that at all!"

Kyouko feebly denied the accusation, while Mami continued to look unconvinced and was starting to giggle at her reaction. Eventually, Kyouko just raised her hands in defeat and slumped down on the table, muttering "idiot Mami". Mami had stopped giggling and was now consoling the embarrassed redhaired girl.

Though that was what Kyouko appeared to be doing, she was secretly smiling underneath. The heavy atmosphere from earlier had dispersed now, and she was starting to relax again and feel at ease.

_Wait, don't tell me this was what Mami was aiming for? Ah, whatever._

Kyouko shook away the thought and decided to just bask in the atmosphere rather than start thinking about depressing things again.

"But truly," Mami said after a while. "It is quite a good thing that you do care a lot about your roommate, Kyouko."

"Well, of course," Kyouko answered, raising her head back. "I do owe that girl a lot, even if she's an idiot."

"Oh yeah, that's right..." Mami nodded slightly. "I really should thank Miki-san sometime, for her help in setting you back on the right path after that happened..."

"Mami," Kyouko scowled. "Don't tell her about that. I don't want Sayaka to know about my past. She might also find out about us being magical girls."

"... If you don't want her to know yet, then I'll keep silent about it," Mami said with slight reluctance. "But I will advise you that keeping it a secret might cause some problems in the future."

"I know that..." Kyouko muttered back. "But as long as there's no need for Sayaka to know about it, then I won't tell her. She'll just worry unnecessarily about it."

Mami just smiled back faintly in response and poured out the remaining tea from her teapot to her cup before humming a tune to herself.

Kyouko had pulled out her signature Pocky and stuck one of them into her mouth, as she started to think back on the past...

It had been roughly a year since she had been taken in by Sayaka's family. The girl's parents were pretty great and didn't really divulge much of her background, if one were to ignore how they tended to be out, leaving Sayaka to care for herself. Though that may have been a good thing for Kyouko's case, as there would be less fuss about her attitude, and she wouldn't have to struggle as much to keep her identity as a magical girl a secret.

Of course, it wasn't easy for Kyouko to just get along and be a part of their household. She often did get into small fights with the blue haired girl, but Sayaka had really put a lot of effort in making her comfortable and be acquainted into her new home. There were a lot of bumps during her stay, usually with her ideas and decisions clashing with Sayaka's, but overall they had gotten along well. After several months, Kyouko had grown comfortable enough to call the place her own and considered Sayaka to be a great friend and benefactor.

_Though she doesn't like to be called the latter._

Kyouko chuckled lightly as she recalled on the happy times she had experienced since then, almost pushing away all the painful memories of her own dead family...

"Oh? Is that Homura-san over there?"

Kyouko's reminiscence abruptly stopped as she followed the direction where Mami was looking at. True enough, there was long dark haired girl wearing the same uniform as them, who seemed to be walking around the area, frequently glancing at her sides.

"Is she looking for something?" Kyouko thought out loud.

Mami opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when Homura seemed to have noticed them and was now walking towards their direction.

"Good afternoon, Kyouko, Mami-san." Homura nodded at each of them. "What brings you girls here?"

"Good afternoon, Homura-san." Mami raised her tea cup as a greeting. "I was just having tea by myself, that is, until Kyouko decided that she was going to have her lunch at my table."

"Yo, Homura," Kyouko greeted her as well. "I came here after I was finally done with Saotome-sensei. What are you doing here too?"

"Nothing really..." Homura trailed off as she glanced at the side again. "Was just checking up on the area, making sure that everything is... fine."

Homura was, as usual, sporting a calm and collected expression as she got closer to them. It always impressed Kyouko how the girl could maintain that expression most of the time, even when they were fighting against wraiths. She seemed to only smile a few times during class as well as grinning in rare moments when she was poking fun at her and Mami, the rest of the time though she wore a poker face that made it hard to read her.

"Is that so?" Mami said."Why don't you take a seat with us as well, Homura-san? I still have some tea left over here if you want," she said, pulling out a spare tea cup from her bag.

"...I'll take up your offer on that then," Homura accepted the tea cup from the blonde and sat down on one of the chairs. She sipped on the tea, commenting on how good it was, and its name apparently, but otherwise did nothing else.

"You have any more?" Kyouko asked, feeling a bit parched herself.

Mami nodded and poured another one for her, which she drank slowly and carefully, not wanting to piss off Mami. The taste was good, just like all the tea she had tasted from Mami.

"By the way," Homura started after finishing her tea. "What were you guys talking about?"

_Oh no you don't, you're not embarrassing me any more for today, Mami._

"Oh uh, nothing really," Kyouko answered. "We were just talking about how I got late because of Sayaka and stuff." She glanced sharply at Mami, already guessing what the blonde was going to say with that grin of hers. "That was all we talked."

"...Sayaka Miki." Homura muttered as she just stared at her tea, not noticing the expressions on their faces. "Is she the reason why you were late?" she asked as before fixing her eyes directly on Kyouko, boring her down with those dark violet eyes.

"Um..." Kyouko started hesitantly, not quite sure if telling Homura was something she should do.

"Apparently, she had a nightmare last night," Mami answered for her. "While I can generally recover from nightmares and go back to sleep, who knows what she saw? It may have been something really bad that she couldn't sleep easily." She raised an eyebrow at Homura, guessing already what the girl was thinking.

_Good one, Mami._

"...you have a point there," Homura agreed after a pause. "It's true that not everyone is the same when dealing with something horrific. Some are just too weak to handle these types of experience."

"...Hey." Kyouko narrowed her eyes at Homura. "Are you implying that Sayaka is a weak person?"

"No," Homura answered easily without missing a beat. "Just saying that maybe you shouldn't worry about her so much, if you're going to end up getting in trouble for it."

"Homura-san!" Mami tried to intervene but stopped when Kyouko raised her hand.

"...Sure, Sayaka's a pain in the neck sometimes, and maybe it's true that the things she experience pales in comparison to ours," Kyouko admitted before slowly rising from her seat. "But that girl's been there for me a lot, sticking her nose into dangerous situations just to help me. She's also helped me quite a bit in my studies, at the very least, she helped me take it seriously again. Sayaka aint a burden, and she aint weak!"

Kyouko had raised her voice and slammed her hands on the table, rattling Mami's tea set. Luckily no one else was the vicinity, so the only ones who noticed her outburst was a stunned blonde and a stoic brunette. Minutes passed as Mami recovered from her shock and Kyouko calmed down enough to sit back down, while Homura kept wearing her stoic expression. Then Homura raised her hand slightly, before hesitating and putting it down back again with a shake of her head.

"...Looks like you have someone you really care about, Kyouko," Homura replied after a while.

"W-what you mean by that?" Kyouko said defensively. "Isn't it n-normal to care about people like that?"

"No, that is – never mind." Homura sighed. "I guess I can understand what you mean, somewhat."

_What the- is this really Homura?_

After she said that, Homura's expression shifted from being blank to something like... sadness? Kyouko and Mami weren't able to make sure of it, as they were more surprised that brunette's admission, and she had already shifted her face back to being neutral.

"I guess it's time to go," Homura said out load as she started walking away, leaving behind the two surprised magical girls. After a few seconds, however, she turned back to face the two girls. "Are you guys going to stay here? It's nearly time for classes you know."

Kyouko and Mami blinked once, then glanced at the time on their cellphones. It currently read as 12:57 PM, just three minutes away from their classes to begin.

"W-wait up for us," Kyouko called out to the dark haired girl as she picked up her bento box and helped out Mami gather her tea set. Once all the things were gathered, Kyouko and Mami quickly dashed towards the building, making use of their magical powers to boost their speed; Kyouko couldn't use it earlier because of Sayaka's presence. They whirled past Homura who was walking at a leisurely pace. Time stop had its advantages.

_Though, I wonder what was going on in Homura's mind from earlier..._

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reviews would be helpful and appreciated.


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